Newer more modern escalators frequently include thin transparent, or non-transparent, balustrades which may be made of glass or some other material. Such balustrades are used to increase the aesthetic appeal of the escalator assembly. These balustrades are typically substantially thinner than the width of the handrails which move over them, whereby suitable laterally enlarged guide rails must be mounted on the balustrade to support the handrails. Typical examples of such balustrade assemblies are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,028,358 granted Jan. 21, 1936 to H. W. Shonnard; 3,321,059 granted May 23, 1967 to C. J. Kroepel; 3,981,118 granted Sept. 21, 1976 to E. D. Johnson, et al.; 3,989,133 granted Nov. 2, 1976 to I. C. Courson, et al.; 3,991,877 granted Nov. 16, 1976 to J. K. Kraft, et al.; 4,488,631 granted Dec. 18, 1984 to I. C. Courson; 4,658,946 granted Apr. 21, 1987 to W. Adrian, et al.; 4,705,155 granted Nov. 10, 1987 to O. Kanamori; French Patent No. 1,512,084 dated Feb. 21, 1967 to Otis Elevator Company; and British patent applications Nos. 2,104,471 to Hitachi Ltd. published Mar. 9, 1983; 2,143,194 to O&K published Feb. 6, 1985; and 2,152,002 to Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha, published July 31, 1985. One problem manifesting itself with such handrail-balustrade assemblies relates to dissipation of heat created by frictional drag between the handrail and the handrail guide over which the handrail slides. The frictional drag heat problem is particularly noted in a curved escalator such as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,840 granted Mar. 7, 1989 to H. Nakatani wherein the handrail is pulled laterally inwardly toward the center of its path of travel, as well as being pulled along its arcuate path of travel. Another problem which arises in connection with the aforesaid curved escalators relates to forming a handrail guide rail with a lateral curvilinear shape. It will be appreciated that many f the guide rails shown in the prior art are not amenable to being formed with a lateral or transversely curved configuration. The guide rail disclosed is Adrian, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,353 can be simply clamped onto the thin balustrades without the need for extraneous bolts, nuts, clamp or the like, and without the need to penetrate the balustrade. This guide rail cannot, however, be formed with a transverse curvature.